I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

Page 94

The two sisters' eyes met again, and they saw unease and concern in each other's eyes. Orange felt a warmth in her heart and suddenly remembered the conversation that Aoko had just had with her grandfather—"I will never follow that fate!"

Yes, no matter what decision my grandfather makes, fate doesn't always have to be followed.

However, Orange was unaware that the reason why the sorcerer Aozaki activated the Fifth Magic when they entered was actually to modify the timeline and erase all their memories related to Yue Zhengling.

However, this goal could not be achieved, and because the Fifth Law was activated, Aoko, as the inheritor of the Fifth Law, obtained information about the future that should have been determined from the manuscript of the Type-Moon world events recorded by Le Zhengling.

Because Aozaki Aoko's inheritance of the Fifth Law is a predetermined fact, this fact will not be changed as long as Aozaki Aoko exists, regardless of which parallel world it is. Therefore, the fixed factual point is that Aozaki Aoko can use the Fifth Law.

This resulted in Aoko having a certain amount of power within the range of the Fifth Law's activation, even if she didn't activate it. In addition, the manuscript "The Night of the Wizard" recorded by Yue Zhengling allowed Aoko to see those future scenes.

This is why Aozaki the Wizard calls those manuscripts "distortion points"—if the future is known, will that known future still become a predetermined future?

The essence of the Fifth Magic is destruction, making it more dangerous to use than other magic. Moreover, this destruction has now been unintentionally activated, completely disrupting the original destiny and plunging this world line into chaos.

Previously, after Yue Zhengling wrote the manuscript and it was seen by Huangye Zonglian, both Yue Zhengling and Huangye Zonglian were targeted by the two major restraining forces. They could only interfere with Yue Zhengling as the situation warranted, but Huangye Zonglian was doomed to die.

After reading those manuscripts, Araya Sōren was destined never to return to that night. Even if he had the ability to resurrect and successfully resurrected, he would lose the memory of those manuscripts.

This manuscript is, in fact, a one-way ticket to death.

The sorcerer Aozaki knew this, which is why he wanted to retrieve the manuscript. After all, even though he was no longer human, he didn't want to lose his future successor.

But things weren't as simple as he thought. Aoko refused his request, and from this conversation, he saw Aoko's strong will.

He knew that Aoko had seen the future, so when his granddaughter fearlessly wanted to give up the future she had seen, this courage, or rather naivety, made Aoko appear in a different light in his eyes—that fleeting future that transcended the realm of a "magician".

"Sister, would you like to see what's in this letter?" Aoko hesitated for a long time before finally asking. She didn't know what the extra images in her mind truly represented. Although she saw the scene of the two sisters breaking up in the letter, Aoko now had a new plan: to avoid those scenes until they actually happened.

Orange, who hadn't expected her sister to ask that, glanced at her with some surprise, then shook her head. "I was somewhat interested, but seeing how much you treasured these things just now, I'll pass."

"Huh? But didn't my sister often steal my things because she was jealous?" Aoko stared wide-eyed, finding her sister's answer unbelievable.

"That's because those things are too fragile, so I'm just keeping them safe for you. You can see them every time you come to see me, right?" Orange said without a trace of shame, even though her sister had seen through her little scheme.

"Is that so?" Aoko looked at her sister suspiciously, then remembered that she always rushed things, and thought that there was actually some truth to it, so she nodded reluctantly and was fooled by Orange.

“But I still think my sister should take a look at this.” Although she had been fooled, Aoko, who had already decided to let her sister see what was inside, suddenly tore open the envelope and took out a thick stack of manuscripts under the watchful eyes of Arisu and Touko.

Seeing her sister roughly tear the envelope apart, Orange didn't say much, and besides, she was also very interested in what was inside.

Yuzhu, who had been standing to the side, also followed her curiosity and came over.

"Let me see what Ling-chan gave me." Qingzi flipped through the manuscript, but found that she couldn't understand most of it because the text on the manuscript was all in Chinese, and she only recognized a very few characters.

"All of them are Chinese characters?" Qingzi asked in confusion as she flipped through the manuscript page by page.

Orange, standing next to her, also looked puzzled. Why was something written in Chinese when it was clearly meant for Aoko? She didn't think Yue Zhengling believed Aoko could understand Chinese.

Yu-joo, who had joined the two sisters to look at the manuscript, had a drastic change in expression when she saw what was recorded there.

She snatched the manuscript from Qingzi's hand and skimmed through it page by page. The more she read, the more horrified she became. After reading two or three pages, her face was completely drained of color, and her expression turned somewhat crazed.

Aoko, whose manuscript had been stolen, was about to get angry, but seeing Yuzhu's unusual expression, she knew that things were not so simple.

Orange, seeing Yuzhu's unusual behavior, did not dare to disturb her.

"How is this possible? How is this possible? Future vision? No, it's not that simple! Even a [Rainbow] level magic eye couldn't see these things!" Yuzhu's aura became extremely chaotic. She flipped through the manuscript while unconsciously shouting hysterically.

"Kuonji Aratama!" Orange, who had wanted to check on things further, noticed that Aratama's magical power was beginning to surge and was about to get out of control. She immediately snatched the manuscripts and shouted Aratama's name.

The witch, whose manuscript had been stolen, looked up, staring at Orange with bloodshot eyes, and screamed, "Give it to me! Give me those things!"

Seeing Yuzhu, who had completely lost her composure and lunged at her like a madwoman, Orange slapped her without thinking.

"Snap!" A crisp sound rang out in the cave.

Aoko stared blankly at the scene, completely bewildered as to what had happened.

After slapping Yuzhu, Orange looked at her with a wary gaze. If the slap didn't calm her down, Orange would have to use magic.

Fortunately, the slap had a very noticeable effect. Yu-joo, who was on the verge of madness, finally came to her senses. Although her left cheek was a little red and swollen, the madness in her eyes had disappeared.

"Thank you." Yuzhu took two steps back and spoke in a weak voice.

"What happened?" Orange asked in a cold, hard tone, looking at Yuzhu who seemed to have lost her soul.

"I was affected." Yuzhu swayed, then looked at Touko's hand holding the manuscript with an extremely dazed gaze. "That's something I shouldn't have looked at. I almost went crazy just now."

"Almost went crazy? I think she's already gone crazy!" Aoko, completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation, said to Yuzu in a dissatisfied tone.

Orange focused her gaze on the manuscripts and carefully flipped through them, but her Chinese was only so-so, so she couldn't understand what was written on them at all. However, the information she pieced together from the Chinese characters she knew still made her extremely alarmed.

"Since you've chosen to watch it, you'd better watch it here, otherwise your suppressor will detect it."

The Aozaki mage, who had reappeared at some unknown time, looked at the three girls with a complicated gaze. In his eyes, the three girls had disappeared into the river of time.

"Grandpa?" Qingzi wasn't shy, so she called out in confusion. In her eyes, her grandfather now seemed more human than when he first appeared.

Chapter 207 The Manuscript That Changed My Fate (Part 2)

"This is the domain of the Fifth Law. I have completely severed this place from the [world]. Neither Gaia nor Alaya can see this place. Although I don't know what those things record, if you want to see them, it's best to finish reading them here." Although the Aozaki Mage knew that those manuscripts were distortion points, he didn't know what they were exactly, nor did he want to know.

He is now fully committed to the Fifth Law, aiming to make this cave disappear into the river of time. He is gambling, betting everything, in order to win another possibility.

No one knows that he used to act on his intuition just like Aoko, so in a way, Aoko is very similar to him.

Therefore, he reclaimed the humanity he had long abandoned, bringing another possibility to the next generation of the Aozaki family. As for why he did this, even he himself did not believe it when he said it—it was just because of a sudden whim.

“But Grandpa, I can’t understand what’s on this.” Aoko looked troubled, while the mage Aozaki looked helpless.

“Aoko, as a mage, I cannot touch that thing, so you'll have to figure it out yourselves. Besides, I've done everything I can to keep this place going. This is the first and last time I'll help you.” After saying this, the mage Aozaki looked up at the top of the cave.

The two major restraining forces noticed the unease here and simultaneously questioned him.

"Here's a piece of advice for you: the stronger a person is, the less human they become, because that humanity can cause a lot of accidents. If you don't want to end up like me, don't pursue excessive power. Our Aozaki family accidentally obtained the [Fifth Law], and as a result, we were burdened with this enormous power. The more we know how powerful this power is, the less we can control ourselves. Therefore, every mage gradually loses their humanity."

At this point, he lowered his head, looking directly at his two granddaughters and Yuzhu, "Touko, Aoko, and the girls from the Kuonji family, your original destinies have been changed. Only you know what the future holds. Since you've made your choice, then follow that choice."

At this moment, Chengzi, who finally noticed that her grandfather was different from before, asked with a question in her mind, "Grandpa, have you regained your humanity now?"

"...Orange, what do you think humanity is?" Instead of answering Orange's question, the Aozaki Mage posed a question.

Orange couldn't answer this question right away.

"Human nature is a vague concept, but in the end it is just what we call emotions. I gave up these things in order to prevent the power from going out of control. The First Law and the Fifth Law are both capable of overturning the world, so they were locked in heavy shackles."

Aozaki Mahou glanced at Yuuko with a complicated look, then looked at Touko with an unprecedentedly gentle gaze. "Touko, please allow me to apologize here. As for the reason, I believe someone as clever as you has already guessed it."

Hearing her grandfather's words, Orange felt incredibly bitter, because the goal she had always held onto, the one she believed belonged to her, had been denied.

At this moment, Orange felt a sense of emptiness in her heart.

"Your future achievements should be able to break the shackles that the Aozaki family has been burdened with. If one day you feel that your achievements are enough to make you proud, I hope you can come to me. There are some things I have left for you."

These words, which sounded like a prophecy or a dying wish, gave Aozaki Touko an unprecedented sense of relief.

"Alright, hurry up. This is the last time I'll reclaim my past humanity. After this, everything will continue to run on its original trajectory."

"Grandpa, are you really not going to look at what's written on the things Ling-chan gave me?" Aoko looked at her grandfather, unwilling to give up.

"Impossible. If I listen to you now, I don't know what will happen. Besides, I have to stop the Suppressor's spying. So, what to do next is up to you."

The humanity in Aozaki's magical eyes gradually faded. After giving them one last deep look, he returned to his cold, mechanical self and disappeared into the cave.

"Then, sister, what should we do now?" Qingzi looked at Chengzi anxiously. Her grandfather's words had clearly hinted at something, so she was worried that her sister wouldn't be able to accept it in a short time.

But Orange was much more carefree than Aoko. She stretched and said in an unusually relaxed tone, "What should we do? Of course, we should find out what Lingjun left you."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Yuzhu, "You agree, Yuzhu."

Yuzhu slowly shook her head. "I think it's better if you don't know."

"How can this be! This was clearly something Ling-chan left for me, why do you know about it now but I didn't!" Qingzi was the first to express her dissatisfaction.

“Qingzi is right. Right now, you're the only one among us who can read Chinese, and your reaction just now has already told us that this information is very important. Youzhu, you need to understand that you originally didn't have the right to know these things. Now, you know what you shouldn't know, while we don't know what we should know. Do you think this is appropriate?”

Yuzhu originally wanted to complain that those manuscripts were clearly for Aoko, but then she remembered the only message written in Japanese recorded in this manuscript, and she couldn't say those words anymore.

"...Orange, turn to the last page of that manuscript first." Yuzhu suddenly felt that everything had become dull and tasteless, and she once again showed that expression that was neither sad nor happy.

Feeling suspicious, Orange quickly flipped through the manuscript and soon realized which page Yuzhu was referring to. When she saw the message, her expression became quite interesting.

Standing next to her, Aoko also tiptoed and curiously looked over. When she saw the message written on the paper, her expression became the same as her sister's.

"How could this be? Wasn't this letter meant for me?"

After reading the message, Qingzi felt extremely frustrated. She picked up the envelope and realized that it only had the words "Cang" and "Zi" on it. As for who it was addressed to, no one could confirm.

"Clock Tower Forensic Division, I, Aozaki Touko, am not finished with you!" Touko also noticed the strangeness of the situation. She narrowed her eyes, which were filled with gloom. Something was very wrong with this. The woman in the Forensic Division clearly had past vision, so why didn't she reveal the real recipient of the letter?

Chapter 208 The Manuscript That Changed My Fate (Part 2)

Aozaki Touko, who held a grudge against the forensic department, sighed slightly as she looked at the message in her hand. The message was full of complex emotions. She didn't know what Yue Zhengling was feeling when she wrote it, because she could read fear, resentment, and unexpected audacity between the lines.

Is this recklessness born of a belief that death is inevitable, leading to self-destruction? Or is it driven by a desire for revenge, making one act without restraint?

Orange gently closed her eyes, and the peaceful sleeping face of Le Zhengling appeared in her mind. "So, you knew all along that you were going to die."

This is the only brief, named note written in Japanese in the entire manuscript.

Sister Orange, please allow me to call you that, even if it's a bit shameless.

By the time you read this message, I'll probably be dead. Because if I weren't dead, this letter probably wouldn't have been sent.

Although I don't know how I will die, or what will happen after I die, I want to leave some mark on this world while I'm still alive.

To be honest, I'm ashamed to say that I don't know many people, and the value of these things is something that ordinary people can't realize at all. If I want to maximize the value of these things, the only people I can think of are you, Qingzi, and Uncle Fuaburo.

Of the three, I rejected the older man because he had no fixed address. Since you need an address to send a letter, and the Aozaki family is quite famous in Misaki Town, even if I don't know the specific address, the letter will definitely arrive.

Aoko is a destroyer, and I don't think she could ever recognize all the words in this book in her entire life. She'll probably lose or break it before she even finishes reading it, so the only person I can think of is you.

Please forgive my stubbornness. After reading this, I think you will definitely want to beat me up, because these things contain the future you will face, and some very important things.

Well, the reason I'm writing in Chinese is because it's my mother tongue. Since I want to leave a mark on this world, I should record it in my most authentic way. I hope you understand Chinese. If you don't, I hope you can learn it so that I can leave some impression on you.

I once heard a saying: When a person dies, they can only live on in the memories of others. If that person also forgets, then that person is truly dead.

Having finally learned the truth about this world, I don't want to leave nothing behind, I don't want to leave without any value, I don't want to be forgotten by everyone. So, Sister Orange, please remember me no matter what.

Finally, if I really die, and this letter is successfully delivered to you, I would like to ask you, Sister Orange, to go to Guanbuzi City, find the Mother of Guanbuzi, and apologize to her on my behalf, saying that I am very sorry, I still died.

If possible, bring Qingzi along too, and let her take a look. After all, the future of you two sisters is still a concern.

...Well, that's all for now. After all, I don't know what else to say, because a thousand words can't express what I want to say clearly. Also, I hope that after reading this, you won't doubt the meaning of life.

Finally, let me complain a little: why didn't I meet someone like you, who had mastered the skills of the Clock Tower?

"Qingzi, you should still look at this together, right?" Chengzi glanced at her sister.

"Of course, although Ling-chan's message was addressed to her older sister, we can't be sure whose name is on the envelope right now. Maybe Ling-chan will end up giving these things to me."

Qingzi knew the possibility was extremely slim, but she still stubbornly insisted on denying it, because she was now a party to the matter, and she was very curious about what Yue Zhengling had written and what her grandfather meant by fate.

"What about the pearl? You didn't finish looking at it earlier, did you? It's not too late to leave now. Grandfather has other Chinese books here; you can teach me directly, and then—"

"Impossible, that kind of language isn't something you can learn easily." Before Orange could finish speaking, Yuzhu interrupted her.

As witches who have passed down their knowledge from generation to generation, the knowledge of the witch lineage is not simply passed down orally, but includes memories and insights. Therefore, Yuju is actually fluent in most languages ​​in the world, which is why she can understand Chinese at such a young age.

"Moreover, just as the sorceress Aozaki said, this thing is the distorting point that changes the world. The moment I came into contact with it, I had no way out. In fact, I would not have chosen to back out even if I could have done so."

Although Yuzhu's expression was indifferent, her eyes were filled with a chilling madness. "Only I can understand these things here right now. We don't know how long Aozaki the Mage can maintain this, so you have no choice at all."

Orange knew that what Youzhu said was true. It wasn't that she didn't believe Youzhu, but when she thought about Youzhu's previous situation, she felt extremely uneasy.

"I know what you're worried about, but it's okay now." Yuzhu knew that her emotional fluctuations were abnormal, but she was confident that she could control them. After seeing the general contents of "The Night of the Witch," she, as a witch, had become closer to the Root. The information overload overwhelmed her, which was why she acted that way.

To put it simply, it means severing some causal ties, leading to a profound realization. Moreover, the reason that drove her crazy before was not "The Night of the Witcher," but rather the world line map from the very beginning.

Whether it was the ending or the process, the world's trajectory was clearly laid out before her eyes. She even knew that the world line she was in had a very high chance of leading to the ending of Steel Land. This shock was what caused her to lose her mind.

Ultimately, any magician who knows the ending of Steel Earth will likely become like her; it's the impact of approaching the truth of the world and the unavoidable despair.

"Okay, but I think you know the principles, right?" Orange asked with a furrowed brow and a helpless voice.

"Of course, I guarantee in the name of the witch that I will translate the contents of these manuscripts thoroughly and accurately." Yuzhu nodded, then solemnly took the manuscript representing the truth of the world from Touko's hands.

Taking a few deep breaths, Yuzhu stood in front of the Aozaki sisters and slowly translated the words on the manuscript in a melodious voice.

Over the next two hours, the three felt as if the world they saw had been completely overturned, destroyed, then reconstructed, and finally became strangely unfamiliar.